Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Real-Time Ship Tracking on Google Maps

MarineTraffic.comMarineTraffic.com have produced a Google Map showing real-time information about ship movements throughout the world.

The system is based on AIS (Automatic Identification System). The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all vessels over 299GT to carry an AIS transponder on board, which transmits data on position, speed and course, among some other static information, such as the vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage details.

MarineTraffic uses this information to plot the real-time position of marine vessels on a Google Map. The vessels' positions are shown on the map by tags in the shape of boats. The tags are colour-coded to show whether the vessel is a tanker, passenger vessel, cargo vessel, yacht etc. Clicking on a tag brings up a wealth of information about the vessel and its current destination.

MarineTraffic say they can expand their coverage to include any area worldwide. Anyone can install a VHF antenna, an AIS receiver and start immediately sending and seeing data on the map.

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